The newly constructed, Infant Jesus Church Pilar- Shirva, the first church to be dedicated to Infant Jesus in Udupi diocese was blessed by the Bishop of Udupi, Rt. Rev. Dr. Gerald I. Lobo on Jan 02, 2018.
The Bishop was welcomed by V. Rev. Fr Stany Tauro, Parish Priest and Valerian Machado, convener of the Pilar Church Building committee at the entrance. Later the Bishop inaugurated the newly concreted road for the church sanctioned by MLC Ivan D’Souza with the MLC fund. Fr Valerian Mendonca chancellor of Udupi Diocese inaugurated the new church gate, while David D’Souza, president of Mudarangadi Grama Panchayat inaugurated the new high mast light. Later Bishop Gerald Lobo blessed and inaugurated the Presbytery and Belfry.
The grand ceremony of the inauguration and blessing of the church commenced as the Bishop along with V. Rev. Fr Stany Tauro, Parish Priest and dean of Shirva Deanery; V. Rev. Fr Valerian Mendonca, Chancellor and Dean of the Udupi Deanery; V. Rev. Felix Fernandes, Provincial of Salesian Don Bosco Konkan Goa Province and a number of priests from Udupi and Mangalore Dioceses, Religious men, women and the parishioners and guests.
The inauguration was followed by the Solemn Mass which was concelebrated by several priests. Bishop Gerald Lobo in his homily, highlighted the meaning of the place of worship (temple or church) and traced the origin and development of places of worship to ancient times and pointed out that it was King David who thought of building a grand temple for God. However, he was not destined to complete the temple and it was his son Solomon who built a grand temple in honour of Yaveh (God).
After the Mass, a public felicitation program was held. Most Rev. Dr Gerald Isaac Lobo, Bishop of Udupi; Mr. Vinay Kumar Sorake MLA Kaup; Ivan D’Souza, Chief Whip Karnataka legislative council; Msgr. Baptist Menezes, Vicar general of Udupi Diocese; Rev. Fr Felix Fernandes, Provincial of Salesian Don Bosco Konkan Goa Province; Rev. Fr Valerian Mendonca, Chancellor Udupi Diocese; David D’Souza, president Mudarangadi Grama Panchayat; Wilson Rodrigues and Shilpa Suvarna, ZP members; Michal Ramesh D’Souza, Rev. Fr Stany Tauro Parish Priest and Dean of Shirva Deanery, Mr. Wilson D’Souza, vice president; Mrs. Leena Machado, secretary Shirva parish pastoral council; Mr. Valerian Machado, Coordinator Pilar Church; Mr. Melwyn Aranha, Coordinator Parish Commission; Rev. Fr Kiran Nazareth SDB, In-charge Pilar Church were present on the dais.
In his presidential speech, Dr. Gerald Isaac Lobo said that in Indian culture, places of worship have a distinct place. The Bishop complimented the parish priest and people of Pilar for their efforts in erecting such a beautiful church building within a short period. He said that the people of Pilar have poured their love, sacrifice and labour into the construction of the new Church building. It was their dream which has become a reality.
On behalf of the Diocese of Udupi, Bishop Gerald Isaac Lobo felicitated V. Rev. Fr Stany Tauro and V. Rev. Fr Felix Fernandes as a token of appreciation for their great work at Pilar.
Former parish priests, contractors, Engineer, Sponsors, donors were felicitated on the occasion.
V. Rev. Fr Stany Tauro welcomed the gathering. Rev. Fr Kiran Nazareth proposed the vote of thanks and Wilson Machado and Emilda Mathias compered the program. Fellowship meal was served to all those who attended the inaugural function.